Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"Guangfu!" Liu Haizhong shouted.

Liu Guangfu trembled with fright, nearly dropping the cornbread in his hand: "Dad... what's wrong?"

Where's Second Brother? Where did that good-for-nothing run off to again?

[Big brother, help!]

"Where did you go after school this afternoon? Were you hanging around in the alley again?!" Liu Haizhong stood up, skillfully unbuckled his belt, and said, "Zhang Dabiao is about to become a director, and you're still wasting your days! I'm going to teach you a lesson today!"

"Dad! I didn't! I was on duty at school this afternoon!" Liu Guangfu was so frightened that he backed away repeatedly.

What does Zhang Dabiao being a director have to do with me?

"His going to the moon has nothing to do with me?"

"How dare you talk back!"

The belt snapped crisply in mid-air. Immediately afterward, a pig-like scream echoed from the backyard, a scream so piercing it reverberated throughout the courtyard.

------------

The Jia family of the Intermediate People's Court.

The room was dark, with no lights on. Jia Zhangshi sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), her face long and drawn. Qin Huairu sat on the edge of the kang, sewing clothes silently.

Banggeng huddled under the covers, still clutching the book "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" tightly in his hands.

"What a tragedy! Heaven is truly blind!" Jia Zhangshi suddenly wailed, slapping her thigh. "That damned little beast, how did he become a director! Why does he get to live so well while our family has to eat cornbread here!"

Qin Huairu sighed and put down the needle and thread in her hand: "Mom, please keep your voice down, don't let anyone hear. It's their ability to live a good life, we should just live our own lives well."

"Live a good life? How will we live like that!" Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu. "Look at the other family in the east wing, they eat fish and meat every day. And look at our family, Banggeng can't even get a sip of meat soup! You're a useless mother, you can't even keep a simpleton like Shazhu in check!"

Qin Huairu's eyes reddened, and she lowered her head without saying a word.

If it weren't for you, Jia Zhangshi, stirring things up, Qin Huairu would have already won over Shazhu!

However, it's not that Sha Zhu is neglecting his family lately; rather, the food shortage in 62 has become even more severe, and the whole country is waiting for the summer and autumn harvests. Sha Zhu really can't bring his own lunchboxes anymore, as the canteen kitchen has almost nothing left.

If someone dares to bring a lunchbox home at this time, the workers will tear him to shreds.

The bustling outside contrasted sharply with the desolate inside. That night, the beasts in the courtyard collectively broke down.

------------

The next morning, the lingering emotions of the previous night still permeated the courtyard. The Yan family's child from the front yard went out with dark circles under his eyes, while Liu Guangfu from the back yard walked with a limp.

孽 孽!

They all looked towards the gate of the second room in the courtyard—[Zhang Dabiao, I hate you!]

Zhang Dabiao, however, acted as if nothing had happened.

He got up early, practiced a set of Hongmen Iron Wire Palm techniques, and then practiced the Chasing Wind Step for half an hour in the yard with sandbags strapped to his body. After washing up and eating the hot noodles Qin Jingru brought him, he went to the school's art studio.

He didn't get carried away by his impending directorship, nor did he go around showing off.

On the drawing table lay a thick stack of sketches. This was his independently created comic strip, "Heroes and Daughters."

While "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" was a huge hit, it was merely a stepping stone. To truly win a major award in next year's national comic book awards, one must rely on mainstream themes. Hardcore works like "Heroes and Daughters," set against the backdrop of the Korean War, are the real contenders.

Because Teacher Zhou and Teacher Chen were assigned by the school to draw comic strips of model operas, Zhang Dabiao was the only one working on this project. Holding a dip pen, he meticulously sketched a distant view of Wang Cheng calling for artillery fire on the front line on a drawing.

He drew every line and every shadow with utmost focus. He perfectly deconstructed the storyboard language of the film onto the paper, and the oppressive feeling of constant gunfire was palpable.

Long-haired senior Ma Changfeng would occasionally come over to chat with him or take him out for a smoke. Everyone knew that Zhang Dabiao had been invited by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio to study there after graduation and to become an assistant director, so Zhang Dabiao was very popular now.

Who knows, some junior students might work under Zhang Dabiao in the future. If you don't latch onto his coattails now, when will you?

That's how people are, and Zhang Dabiao didn't mind. The stronger you are, the more benefits you can bring to those around you, and the more friends you'll have. That's normal.

As long as they don't stab each other in the back, those from the same school are all considered fellow students, and it's perfectly acceptable for them to look out for each other.

Not to mention, these days, what's really lacking in animation production is people, especially people who are familiar with your style.

This long hair... let's observe it for two years before making a decision.

------------

In the days that followed, Zhang Dabiao's life entered an extremely regular and high-intensity rhythm.

He lived a simple life between the school and his courtyard house. Occasionally, he would ride his motorcycle to the Ministry of Foreign Trade to have tea with Director Zhao and check on the progress of the cadre housing allocated to him by the Ministry.

The staff dormitory building is almost finished. Once it's done, I'll have Master Lei make another trip to give it a proper renovation.

That location will definitely be valuable in the future. Although Zhang Dabiao may not necessarily live there, having multiple properties is always a good thing.

He also makes several trips to Hong Kong every week without fail.

First, I went to two magazines to submit my manuscripts. "A Deadly Secret" was about to end, while "Harry Potter" and "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" were enough to run for several years. I just had to hold on for now. Then I went to the grain and oil market to buy large quantities of rice, flour, and meat, stuffing them all into my "little nest" space and transporting them back to the teahouse in Lishuiqiao Village. Next, I had to go to the village house to carefully bury the antiques and cultural relics I had recently acquired on the black market in Beijing into the cellar for storage. I also had to do some physical labor while digging the cellar, making sure it was sturdy, well-ventilated, and dry. It was a huge project.

Finally, I had to take a look at Lou Yufan's Yufan Plastics Factory. He's a 25% shareholder, and the factory's casters and some small commodities all rely on his drawings. I can't leave him out.

This multi-faceted lifestyle made it impossible for him to stay in Hong Kong for long. His foothold in Beijing became increasingly secure, and he quietly amassed a fortune by shuttling between the two regions.

Time passed slowly and steadily amidst the scratching of the pen tip and the roar of the motorcycle.

------------

Before we knew it, it was summer vacation in 1962.

The weather in Beijing became muggy. Cicadas chirped incessantly in the trees.

Zhang Dabiao had completed most of the drafts for "Heroes and Heroines". With school on holiday, he simply spent all his time in the east courtyard creating his artwork.

Meanwhile, the courtyard house was quietly facing a new storm.

This incident originated from Liu Guangqi's family in the west wing of the Intermediate People's Court.

You Hongjuan is pregnant.

That's right—she's pregnant with Andy Lau!